One Pot Lasagna Zucchini Noodles

This is a healthy lasagna recipe that uses zucchini noodles instead of pasta. This zucchini lasagna has lean ground turkey, sauce, and ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese just like a classic lasagna but you make it in one pot for easy clean-up!

One of my favorite one pot pasta dishes is lasagna pasta. Instead of careful layers of lasagna noodles, you toss all the filling ingredients into a skillet and add your favorite pasta. It has the flavors of lasagna but without as much work. This zucchini lasagna is my healthier version of my one pot lasagna and it has so much flavor you won’t even miss the pasta!

How to Make One Pot Zucchini Lasagna

I’m always looking for ways to incorporate more zucchini noodles into my cooking. I could eat zucchini noodles all day but my husband isn’t really a fan, so I have to mix them in very flavorful dishes to get him to eat them. This dish has ground turkey, basil, and lots of cheese – with so many flavors he didn’t mind the zucchini noodles at all!

The easiest way to make zucchini lasagna noodles is with a spiralizer*. I chose to make wider spiralized zucchini noodles because the wavy texture reminds me of traditional lasagna noodles.

Zucchini has a lot of moisture so I like to cook it in the pan first so it releases some of its moisture otherwise the lasagna will be too watery. I don’t cook it all the way through, but just long enough to release some of the water. I then drain it to release even more water before patting it dry.

The best part of this recipe is that you use all of the same ingredients you would for a traditional lasagna, but instead of precooking the filling and then layering it all in a baking dish you just cook it all in the same pan.

I cook the garlic and onion first before adding the ground turkey. Then I add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried oregano and basil and bring the sauce to a simmer.

Once the sauce is simmering add the mozzarella and parmesan cheese and stir until the cheese melts into the sauce.

Add the zucchini noodles and stir just until the noodles are warmed through. I like to drop dollops of ricotta cheese on top before covering the pan. Once the ricotta is heated through it’s ready to serve!

Directions:

In a large skillet, add 1 tbsp olive oil and bring to medium high heat. Add in zucchini and cook until zucchini releases water and is tender but still crisp. Drain water from zucchini. Place zucchin in a strainer and shake a few times to drain out more water. Pat dry zucchini and set aside.

Add remaining olive oil and garlic to skillet. Bring skillet to medium high heat and cook garlic until lightly browned. Add in onions and cook until translucent.

Add in turkey, crumbling the turkey as it cooks. Drain out excess oil. Add in diced tomatoes (including the liquid in the can), tomato sauce, dried oregano, dried basil and bring to a simmer. Stir in mozzarella and parmesan until cheeses are melted. Taste and add salt as needed.

Pat dry zucchini noodles again and then add to skillet. Stir and cover with sauce. Reduce skillet to low heat as you do not want to overcook the zucchini. Add 1 tbsp dollops of ricotta cheese to the surface of the sauce. Cover skillet with lid until ricotta is heated. Remove skillet from heat and serve. Garnish with fresh basil and grated parmesan if desired.